Henrik says on 9/Feb/12
Richard says on 6/Feb/12
Looking at Van Cleef he looked much taller than 6'2". I'd say at his peak he might have been 6'3" 1/2. He towered over most of his costars and there was little difference between him and Eastwood. He may have shrunk down to 6'2" 1/2 or 6'2" later in life.

Not impossibe, I suppose. Maybe he did state a "shrinked" height?

PKB says on 7/Feb/12
Rob, could you please add The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the introduction of Lee Van Cleef?

Richard says on 6/Feb/12
Looking at Van Cleef he looked much taller than 6'2". I'd say at his peak he might have been 6'3" 1/2. He towered over most of his costars and there was little difference between him and Eastwood. He may have shrunk down to 6'2" 1/2 or 6'2" later in life.

MR.HEIGHT says on 25/Jan/12
a strong 6' 2". makes me wanna smoke a pipe. cant wait for the remake of death rides a horse.

jake, 1.82 m/ 1.83 m says on 9/Jan/12
Lee could well have been 6" 2.25 (1.89 m) at his peak.

Henrik says on 24/Nov/11
If he said 6'2" himself, then that's very likely what he also was.

LAN JIAO says on 16/Nov/11
correction. lee van cleef peak 6'2.75-6'3.25

Sentenza says on 9/Nov/11
I don't think there was a big height difference between Eastwood and Van Cleef. Probable an inch at the most. Van Cleef always looked very tall to me. I think without shoes he's probably about 6'3". With the Cowboy boots he towers over most characters in his movies.

LAN Jiao says on 6/Nov/11
peak clint - 6'3.75-6'4.25, now unknown.
peak van cleef 6'2-6'3.25
*end*

LAN Jiao says on 4/Nov/11
thebad7 , now im troll? i have been polite to you for new comments. but now it sounds like you likes to go against anyone who bring down your favorite guy.

Stop mumbling speech here if you are not even taller than 4footer plus danny devito you ridiculous prick and keep your idiotic words shut up! you have no rights to tell anyone stop posting.

you are not editor rob here. please!! you are pathetic in your thinking and get a doctor help!

lol now then i knew 6'5 was short and i gota tell someone im short because im 6'5.. haha.. again LOL LOL LOL 5'3 sounds like you are.. lol.. clint is 4'6 peak.

Do for your own self a favor - P A T H E T I C. the word "loser" reflect on you. LOL. whatever bad things you say on people are atually reflected on you. because you are real epic fail pathetic moron seeking help no where else..

your doctor will proof you as a ZERO credibility person and you will thanks him with no EQ you have. LOL..

thebad7 says on 4/Nov/11
@Jiao The Troll: You don't know jack, son. "I know well how legit 6'4" guy looks..."--with your incoherent ramblings and idiotic claims, you can't be trusted to know anything about ANYTHING. You have ZERO credibility. You're a joke.

WRONG. Clint isn't six flat today. Epic Fail--though that's a recurring motif for you.

Do yourself a favor: L I T E R A C Y. You have no business posting here, or anywhere else, loser.

I'm done dealing with you and your ridiculous claims. You need help.

tb7

"im min 6'5.3"...with your interpretation of height, no doubt six-foot-five-inches in your mind equates to 5'3". Seek help.

LAN Jiao says on 4/Nov/11
tb7, i"ll pay back clint 1 inch at peak as previously i say 188-189cm range before. he look more 6'3 range with a hair 6'4 cos he did't look near 6'7 so far i see in pictures w 2-3in cowboy boots. 6'4 myth i"ll do some verified from his hey day films. anyway on vinnie jones page i left out to tell you my english is not my priority language as from my dad is chinese,mum german, 3rd comes english. sorry for my english to anyone if i did't sounds like a good english speakers to make more understanding here.
my bad for clint height, i should watch more of his earlier days film and post comments here. he does look lost alot height and develope the hump makes him 5'11 alone in pictures. stand tall i think his 6'0 now.

LAN Jiao says on 3/Nov/11
lol.. im min 6'5.3 and i know well how legit 6'4 guy looks..
actors height can be inflated or exagerrated, common sense.. claim height claim does't mean real height. listed height does't goes same as claim height.
whatever clint height at peak.. he is dead on 6'0-5'11.25 min nowadays. wonder why a healthy old men loss 4 plus inches height.. weir.. my granpa 3years shy of clint age is still 5'8 and 5'9 peak and my grandpa 81yr old cousin legit 6'2 while near 6'4 peak..

thebad7 says on 31/Oct/11
@Jiao: I am trying my very best to refrain from being a total dick towards you, but your off-the-wall, inaccurate, and outrageous claims prohibit that. You aren't good at judging height at all. You also need to get over this hang-up you harbor regarding men taller than yourself.

Lee Van Cleef was a tall, well-built man and he remained in top physical shape up until the last few years of his life due to heart disease and--in the last year of his life--throat cancer. Even up to his death in December 1989, the man had excellent, military-style posture and he lost very little height if any at all.

He co-starred with Eastwood in '65 and '66 for PER QUALCHE DOLLARO IN PIU and IL BUONO, IL BRUTTO, IL CATTIVO. Both men wore cowboy boots with 1" - 1 1/2" heels. A young Eastwood had an inch on Van Cleef--up to 1 1/2" at the most. Van Cleef was a tall guy and so was Eastwood, and Eastwood was noticeably taller than Van Cleef.

1965 - 1966
Clint Eastwood: 6'4" barefoot at ages 35 and 36. He ALWAYS looked 6'4" in the '60s. He was the same height as 6'4" actors George Kennedy and Gregory Walcott in the '70s. Always noticeably taller than legit 6'2" - 6'3" actors even into the '90s. Deal with it.
Lee Van Cleef: minimum 6'2" barefoot, as high as 6'2 1/2" or weak 6'3" at ages 40 and 41. ALWAYS noticeably taller than 6'1" and 6'2" actors and appearing same height or a fraction shorter than 6'3" - 6'4" actors. Van Cleef was tall. Deal with it.

And so ends the lesson. You really need to watch the finale of PER QUALCHE DOLLARO IN PIU again when The Colonel and Monco stand side-by-side before parting ways. It's as plain and clear as daylight: Eastwood IS TALLER than Van Cleef. If you think that Eastwood was the same height as Van Cleef, then you must have some sort of depth perception problem to round out your litany of handicaps.

tb7

LAN Jiao says on 30/Oct/11
Cleef at peak is no shorter than "6-4" clint eastwood. Both 6'2 peak reality height

Sam says on 19/Oct/11
The shortest I ever saw Van Cleef look was in Escape from NY where he looked no more than 2 inches over Kurt Russell, although you have to bear in mind that Van Cleef may have lost some height and Russell wore some seriously chunky boots when playing Snake Plissken.

thebad7 says on 17/Oct/11
I recently watched Lee Van Cleef in 1976's GOD'S GUN and in 1967's DEATH RIDES A HORSE. In the former, Lee stars alongside strong 6'3" Jack Palance, and he looks the same height as Palance. In the latter--one of Van Cleef's finest non-Leone Westerns--Van Cleef looks only 2" shorter than 6'5" John Phillip Law. In each film, the actors all wear cowboy boots with 1" - 1 1/2" heels. Watching his films, it's easy to see how tall he really was, and I maintain that he looked even taller because he always had excellent posture--Van Cleef was never a sloucher. 6'2" at the minimum, even at the end when he died in 1989.

@Peter: He's my favorite screen actor, and I own almost all of his films (1952-1989). Having watched his stuff so much over the years, I'm at a point where I'm ready to guess 6'3" at his peak as well. Also saw him in a great B sci-fi flick from 1956 titled IT CONQUERED THE WORLD. Next to 6'3" Peter Graves, Van Cleef looks the same height (both men are wearing dress shoes) at Graves, with Graves having just a hair advantage on LVC--no more than 1/2" difference between the men. You're right: he always looks tall on screen.

tb7

Peter says on 7/Oct/11
He always looks very tall on screen. I would say 6'3". Perhaps 6'3" at his peak.

Mike says on 25/Sep/11
He looks taller than Sean Connery. He seems about 6'3". He has a powerful presence.

Shaun says on 10/Jul/11
He looked the exact same height on screen to Sean Connery. 6'1.5"-6'2" range.

Gonzalo says on 28/Mar/11
In The man who shot Liberty Valance he looks short when he faces Wayne at the bar, right after the duel with Valance. Wayne looks 4-5 cms taller but he looks much bigger than Van Cleef. The funny thing is Wayne looks shorter than James Stewart. Height is a mistery.

jtm says on 3/Mar/11
the only time he didn't look 6'2 was next to kurt russell.

thebad7 says on 24/Feb/11
I posted earlier today, and to satisfy my curiosity, I popped in a Eurocrime film from 1978 that Lee Van Cleef starred in titled THE SQUEEZE. In it, Van Cleef stars as a master safecracker goaded into taking one last job for a big payday. Wonderful, obscure crime caper.

In any event, Van Cleef stars alongside Lionel Stander and Edward Albert (son of famed Eddie Albert). Both Stander and Albert are listed at 6' from reliable sources. There are scenes in the film during which Van Cleef is standing side-to-side with both of his co-stars. Everybody is wearing similar footwear--either cowboy boots or platform shoes. Van Cleef has at least 2" on both Stander and Albert, and he has excellent posture--as he always had throughout his life.

There is one scene during which Van Cleef walks through the lobby of a NYC hotel--he is dressed in Western garb with cowboy boots with (approximately) 2" heels. Here he towers over everybody in the lobby--he's about 6'4" with the boots on. After watching the film, I am certain that Van Cleef was at least 6'2" tall, and possibly a bit over that mark. Bottom line: no less than 6'2" for Van Cleef.

tb7

P.S.--I am biased: he's my favorite film actor of all-time.

thebad7 says on 24/Feb/11
I caught THE BRAVADOS on Encore Westerns the other night. In an early scene, Peck views the four suspected killers in the holding cell. I agree with poster PatB: Steven Boyd looked a bit shorter than the others, but Van Cleef looked to be the same height as Henry Silva, Albert Salmi, and Gregory Peck with no discernable difference between them all. Van Cleef was a tall guy--6'2" is spot on, especially since he looked even taller in cowboy boots.

Another good judge of Van Cleef's height is 1956's IT CONQUERED THE WORLD. In it, there are scenes in which Van Cleef stands face-to-face with his 6'3" co-star Peter Graves, and to my eye, Van Cleef is about the same height as Graves--or just a hair (less than 1") shorter. Bear in mind, both actors are wearing similar footwear--standard dress shoes. More proof resides with 1962's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE. Lee Marvin was billed at 6'2", and he looks to be very close to this measurement--but in scenes together, Van Cleef looks to be about an inch taller. Also, in the final two Dollars Films, Van Cleef looks to be about 1"-1.5" shorter than a young, 6'4" Clint Eastwood; again, both men wearing cowboy boots with 1.5"-2" heels.

Van Cleef always had very good posture--even towards the end of his life. He was a terrific actor with an awesome voice--and that squint was more effective than a hundred pages of dialogue. Anything less than 6'2" for Van Cleef is ridiculous.

tb7

PatB says on 26/Dec/10
I'm posting again because I watched "The Bravados" last night on Roku. There's a scene in which Gregory Peck has the sheriff line up the four killers in the jail cell - all four of them are about the same height as Peck, including Van Cleef. I was a bit surprised that Van Cleef was that tall. Albert Salmi was a bit taller and Steven Boyd a bit shorter but Van Cleef, Henry Silva and Peck are all about 6'2". Overall it's a tall cast with Andrew Duggan at 6'6" playing a very big priest. BTW it's a terrific flic. Peck is awesome.